MY DATE WITH THE WILD MAN OF BORNEO

I am always eager to discover new destinations so when I saw the Silversea itinerary featuring
Borneo, Brunei and the Philippines, I headed for Silver Cloud… and high on my list of must-dos was to meet the famed Wild Man of Borneo – more accurately the `man of the forest’ – the Orang Utan.

Our call at Sandakan provided the opportunity on a morning excursion to the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, around 16 square miles of virgin forest where orphaned, injured or displaced orang utans are cared for and trained for return to the wild. We were warned that, as with all wild life, there was no guarantee we would actually see the orang utans, but they are highly intelligent and knowing that if they turned up in the same place at the same time every day they would be fed, it seemed a pretty safe bet!

We were told we had to be early to be in position well before the feeding time as they would disappear promptly after their milk and bananas. On arrival at the centre we were lucky to have a fine day for a walk of about 20 minutes through the forest on along a wooden walkway to the viewing platforms – in fact it was a much easier trip than I had expected. Then the anticipation began: there were ropes strung among the trees leading to the feeding area, and we were told to watch for the ropes to start moving as this meant the animals were approaching. We all set ourselves up with what we thought were good photographic viewpoints and about 20 minutes before feeding time the ropes duly started to move!

The excitement mounted as we all tried to be the first to spot the tan colour among the dense greenery…. and there they were! We saw 8 of them of various sizes, as well as the smaller monkeys that were sneaking in to share the goodies.

Like most animals, they were natural performers, swinging along the ropes and through the trees, demonstrating their agility. They have four big strong hands, which they were using to grasp the ropes and branches, and the bunches of bananas they had snatched – but make no mistake, they were behaving naturally in their natural habitat. They are very strict at the centre that visitors are not allowed to get too close, or to touch or feed the orang utans.

It was a morning I shall not forget, another ambition fulfilled, and another realisation that a cruise can be so much more than just a lazy luxury holiday – though it’s great to have that as well!